


a promise

by wyliesblake



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, THE RINGS!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:54:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27662989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyliesblake/pseuds/wyliesblake
Summary: gina porter and ricky bowen’s relationship was something special.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	a promise

**Author's Note:**

> ok so i just wanted to write this because THE RINGS!! yea yea v painful anyways sorry if this is bad I SUCK AT DIALOGUE

Gina huffed looking at the porch lights flickering on and off. “I should probably..”

“Yea..” Ricky let out a soft laugh, “But, hey, I’m serious you can talk to me whenever Gina.”

Gina smiled, “Thank you, Ricky. For everything. And I promise I’ll talk to you if I need to, but you have to too.”

“Okay then, Genevieve Porter, I promise that I will be your safe space if you need it, and yours as mine.” Ricky stuck out his pinky, proposing an act to solidify their promises.

“Whatever Bowen,” She laughed. Gina led her pinky to join his. “I have to go now, seriously.” She reached for the door handle.

“Bye Gina.” Ricky shifted in his seat, ready to pull out of the driveway.

But, before the girl got out, she leaned over to the curly brunette and kissed him on the cheek. “Bye Ricky.”

—

It had been a week or two since homecoming, and Gina and Ricky’s relationship was at its peak. They had hung out a few times now, in his basement or at the skatepark. The two had a special connection, and they just got each other.

But now it was the time to rehearse the ‘When There Was Me and You’ scene, and everything seemed to be a mess. Ideas were shot down and arguments were started. Not to mention Ms. Jenn was nowhere to be found. But before everyone left the rehearsal room, Gina stopped Ricky.

“Hey— Can I hear that acoustic sound idea? It sounded cool..” If she was being honest, she just wanted to spend time with the boy. The two had an interesting relationship. Sometimes it felt like it crossed the line between friends and something more, but she tried to ignore it.

“Really? I mean yea, sure.” Ricky’s eyes lit up, she couldn’t tell if it was because someone wanted to hear his idea, or if it was her. She hoped it was the latter.

So he played, and to say the least, it was amazing. She never really expected it. “Wow. That was amazing, Bowen.” Gina was still a little bit in shock from the performance, but at least she was saying something.

“Thanks, but you’re still better at everything else.” Ricky smiled, placing the guitar on the ground.

“Oh shut up.” Gina elbowed him in the chest.

“Hey! That was so not cool, Gi” Ricky nudged her back, his elbow hitting her shoulder.

“Well anyways” Ricky turned to grab something out of his backpack, “I wanted to give you something, y’know to remind us of homecoming. I mean I can’t really forget about anything that happened..”

Ricky turned back to meet her gaze. He opened a small box to reveal two rings. They were silver, small, and had a tiny engraving on them. It read ‘you get me’.

“Ricky, seriously?” She took one of the rings and investigated it.

“Yea. I mean, you don’t hate it do you? I can get different ones. It’s just I thought that these ones were the best looking so—“ Gina interrupted, “They’re great Ricky. Thank you.” She lifted the boy’s chin up with her finger. “Don’t overthink it.”

“Good, because I was worried.” Ricky smiled before taking the ring out of Gina’s hand and slipping it onto her finger.

She tilted her head, “And your’s?” She took the other ring and grabbed the boy’s hand. She ignored the way her stomach erupted with butterflies when she slipped the ring on his finger.

“Oh Gi, you know what this means? You can never get rid of me.” Ricky gripped onto her hand and squeezed.

“Oh god, I should run, shouldn't I?” Gina giggled.

—

Gina waited in anticipation at the Bowen’s front door. She twisted the ring on her finger, waiting for a certain brunette to answer the door.

“Gina! Hi, what are you doing here?” Ricky looked pale.

“Oh— Ricky! I just thought we could walk to the party together..” Gina smiled, walking past the boy.

“Right, I don’t think I’m gonna go..” Ricky looked down at his feet.

“Why? I was really looking forward to it actually..”

“It’s just..” Ricky tried to find the right words, “Things aren’t good right now.”

“What’s going on?” She tilted her head.

“It’s nothing really.”

He sighed. “Ricky.. Don’t make me remind you of our little promise.” She pointed to his ring.

“Okay, okay. I called my mom, and she has a new boyfriend.”

“Ricky, it’s gonna be okay, I get it. Let’s go to the party, forget all about it and have the best night of our lives.” Gina poked the boy in the chest.

“Should I text her at least?” Ricky looked up at her.

“No, we should get going. I mean you wouldn’t wanna be late, would you?” Gina grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door. “Also! I have this for you..” She pulled out an orange knitted hat out of her pocket.

“A hat? Just for me?” He gave her a playful look.

“Oh shut up, I got bored and it’s freezing out!”

“Well then, let’s go Gina ballerina.”

“Not another nickname..” She grabbed her coat and headed for the door.

—

It had been a good two hours or so, and the party was just dying down a bit. After a few games of Carlos’s board game, everyone was a bit tired. They were all sitting down, watching a movie. Weirdly enough, Gina and Ricky sat next to each other, Ricky’s hand resting on top of her thigh.

This time, Gina couldn’t ignore it. She glanced down at his hand every few minutes, like she was checking if it was really there. And every time she looked, his hand was still there, with the silver ring on his finger.

Ashlynn leaned over to her, breaking her trance. “Gina, wanna spend the night? I mean all the girls are so..”

“I— Yea! Sure. Let me just check in with my mom.” She smiled.

She lifted Ricky’s hand, moving to go towards the kitchen. He raised a brow at her, and she motioned towards the kitchen. Gina navigated her way through the crowd of theatre kids, taking a second to look back at Ricky who was staring right back. Gina felt her cheeks heat up.

She waved off the moment between them, and pulled her phone out to dial her mother. “Hi Mom! I was just wondering, could I sleep over at Ashlynn’s tonight?”

“Sweetie, I—“ Her mom sighed over the phone. “We have to leave.”

Gina’s mouth went dry, before spitting out a response. “What? We just got here.” Her words were a bit too loud, because everyone’s attention was suddenly on her.

“I mean, how long do I have?” She tried to ignore the feeling of Ricky’s eyes burning into the back of her head.

“The end of the week.” Her mother said. She knew that telling her daughter this was harder than anything, she had been through so much. “Okay, love you.. Bye.”

Gina wiped her eyes of the incoming tears. “Gina?” A familiar voice said.

“Ricky.. I-“ Gina turned around. “Gina, what happened?”

Ricky’s eyes were glassy. She knew he heard everything.

“Ricky.. I have to go.” She pushed past him. Gina couldn’t let herself hurt another person again.

“I’ll call you?”

“You heard everything, do you even think there is a point?” She said, a bit too poisonous. And with that, she was out the door and gone.

—

Weeks had gone by, and Gina hadn’t texted a single word to Ricky. But, after looking through his texts, she wished she had. She wished she said goodbye. The wound of leaving Salt Lake was still fresh. Every time she thought of the place— of him, she felt tears prick her eyes.

She shut off her phone after crying to the many pictures and texts from the boy. Why was she allowing him to have this much control over her? For all she knew, he could have already gotten back together with Nini, and forgot about her as a whole.

—

Opening night. Opening night, and she was on a plane ride back to Salt Lake. Courtesy to EJ Caswell. She really didn’t expect to get a text from him offering a ticket back. It felt all too unreal, so of course she said yes. It was another chance to see him, even if it would hurt just as much to leave him again.

When she arrived, she was scared everyone would hate her again. Hate her for leaving so suddenly. The pressure was gone when she walked backstage. Everyone greeted her with hugs and sweet words. But she hadn’t seen him yet. She hadn’t seen the familiar bounce of his curls, or his deep brown eyes.

So she did what she always has. She performed. Gina went on stage and performed like nobody was watching. But someone was, and that someone was Ricky. His eyes watched her every move. He was stunned, she was back, and he hadn’t realized. His every decision was rethought then, the idea of confessing to Nini, the idea of just forgetting about her.

After she got off stage, everyone surrounded her with support. She still looked for Ricky though. But when she did see him, her lips curled into a smile.

“Gina! You’re back?” His smile was so wide, it almost excused the fact his eyes were full of sadness.

“One night only!” She smiled and laughed, hoping he wouldn’t notice the way her voice cracked.

“I missed you..” Ricky played with his hands. It was then when she realized his ring was gone. The ring, which felt like it defined their relationship, was gone.

Her face dropped. “I— Yea.. me too.”

She stared at his hand. It wasn’t just an illusion. His ring was gone. She felt like a fool. Had she imagined it all? Had she imagined the way his heart would speed up when she was around? Was it all a dream? She couldn’t think.

She covered her hand with the silver ring on it and stared back at him, “Well, you should probably go.. Wouldn’t wanna miss your cue.” Her voice cracked loudly this time. It was obvious too. So she left again, before he could say anything else.

—

Gina really felt like an idiot. She continued performing, on and offstage. Her smile faltered every time he walked by though. It was nearly the end of the play, and she couldn’t find him anywhere. People encouraged her to look for him, so she did. She didn’t want to be a bad friend, even if she already was. So she searched, and she did find what she was looking for.

“Hey..” Gina walked up to him, “What happened?”

“It’s a long story.. I could ask you the same thing.”

“Also a long story, I got a last minute flight.” She played with the ring on her finger.

“It’s nothing.. Just something stupid.”

“Ricky, do I really have to remind you again.” She pointed to her own ring now, because the boy didn’t have his own.

A wave of realization seemed to hit him, “Gina, my ring. I—“

“It’s okay, Ricky. I understand.” She nodded her head, moving to stand next to him.

A silence settled between them, but it was different. It wasn’t like the other times, where it was comfortable. This time, the silence felt like it was suffocating her.

“Todd came.” He finally said something.

“Something tells me that isn’t the only reason you aren’t out there right now.”

He chuckled. “You know, you always seemed to know everything that was going on with me.”

She pressed her lips into a smile, “Yea, I guess so.” Gina turned to him, “Well, if you aren’t gonna perform, we should at least cheer them on.” She held out a hand and motioned towards the door.

Ricky smiled before taking her hand and walking towards the door.

—

She watched the scene go down, the way Nini looked so concerned when EJ came out onto stage instead of Ricky. When Nini came over and took Ricky away. She watched Ricky leave without hesitation, not even a second glance her way. And it hurt so bad watching them sing together, it hurt her seeing the person she pined over for months, choosing someone else.

—

She decided she was gonna leave. This time with a proper goodbye. She walked towards the dressing room, when she heard that familiar voice.

“I love you Nini.” Her mouth went dry, the exact same way it did when she left the first time. She couldn’t think, her mind went blank. She felt stupid, would Ricky even care if she left without goodbye? It didn’t matter to her. And looking back, Ricky was right. Gina could never get rid of the memory of Ricky. Even if she moved away. But Gina knew that Ricky could get rid of her. He would slowly forget about her. He would forget all about their special relationship. Just like how he forgot about their rings. She didn’t care. Gina Porter was going to leave this town behind with nothing but bittersweet memories.


End file.
